Color Finesse 3 Plug-in User's Guide

Color Finesse 3.0Plug-in User’s Guide

Trademarks Copyright © 2001, 2010 Synthetic ApertureDisclaimer All rights reserved. This book is protected by copyright andVersion distributed under licenses restricting its use, copying, distribution, and decompilation. Except as permitted by said license, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without prior written authorization of Synthetic Aperture and its licensors, if any. Color Finesse is a registered trademark, and Synthetic Aperture, the Synthetic Aperture logo, Color Finesse, Echo Fire, LiveFire, Video Finesse, and Test Pattern Maker are trademarks of Synthetic Aperture in the U.S. and certain other countries. Adobe, After Effects, Premiere, Acrobat, and PostScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems Inc. Apple, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, the Mac logo, Final Cut Pro, FireWire and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Avid and Avid Xpress are regstered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. All other brand or product names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. This publication and the information contained herein is made available by Synthetic Aperture “as is.” Synthetic Aperture disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including but not limited to any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose regarding these materials. Some Digital Imagery © copyright 2001 PhotoDisc, Inc. This manual reflects version 3.0.2 of Color Finesse. Document part number: 000546003, Revision B, August 2010.

Contents1 – Getting Started Why Do I Need Color Correction?...............................................1 Why Color Finesse?......................................................................1 What’s New in Color Finesse 3.0..................................................1 Compatibility With Previous Versions....................................... 2 About This Manual......................................................................3 Minimum System Requirements..................................................3 Installation...................................................................................3 Installing Color Finesse on Macintosh...................................... 4 Installing Color Finesse on Windows........................................ 5 Registering Your Software............................................................7 Technical Support........................................................................7 Please Tell Us What You Think......................................................82 – The Art of Color Correction What Is Color Correction?............................................................9 Why Do I Need Color Correction?...............................................9 Why Do I Need Color Finesse?.....................................................9 Primary vs. Secondary Correction.......................................... 103 – Color Finesse Fundamentals Applying Color Finesse to Your Clip...........................................11 Adobe After Effects................................................................ 11 Apple Final Cut Pro............................................................... 11 Adobe Premiere Pro............................................................... 12 Other Host Applications........................................................ 12 Basic Plug-In Operation.............................................................13 The Color Finesse Simplified Interface........................................13 The Color Finesse Full Interface..................................................15 Analysis Window................................................................... 16 Image Window..................................................................... 16 Settings Window................................................................... 17 Color Info Window................................................................ 17 Table of Contents iii

Navigating the Windows...........................................................17 Selecting Window Panes....................................................... 17 Activating Panes................................................................... 17 Zooming and Panning Preview Panes.................................... 18 Split Screen Panes................................................................. 18 Alternate View Modes........................................................... 19 Navigating in Time in Preview Panes..........................................20 Realtime Playback Via Rapid Preview..................................... 20 Resetting Controls.....................................................................21 Undo/Redo........................................................................... 21 Resetting All Controls............................................................ 21 Resetting a Pane’s Controls................................................... 21 Resetting a Single Control..................................................... 21 Using the Scroll Wheel.......................................................... 21 Saving and Restoring Settings....................................................22 Using QuickGrades............................................................... 22 Using ASC CDLs.................................................................... 22 Settings Window Options..........................................................22 Entering Numeric Values....................................................... 23 Color Info Window Tools............................................................23 Color Sampler....................................................................... 24 Sampling Image Colors......................................................... 24 Color Display Format............................................................ 25 Color Matching..................................................................... 25 Image Preview LUTs...................................................................25 Loading a Preview LUT.......................................................... 26 Creating a Preview LUT......................................................... 26 Creating 3-D LUTs................................................................ 26 Processing Order.......................................................................27 4 – The Reference Gallery and Analysis Window The Reference Gallery................................................................29 Adding Images..................................................................... 30 Removing Images................................................................. 30 Choosing a Reference Image................................................. 30 Using Folders in the Gallery................................................... 30 Using Saved Settings Presets in the Gallery............................ 31 Customizing the Gallery........................................................ 31 Analysis Window Displays..........................................................31 Waveform Monitor................................................................ 32 Vectorscope.......................................................................... 33 Histogram............................................................................ 34 Level Curves.......................................................................... 34 Combo Display..................................................................... 35 iv Table of Contents

5 – Preferences General Preferences...................................................................37 Video System Settings................................................................38 WFM/VS Preferences..................................................................39 Previews....................................................................................39 Control Surface..........................................................................40 Combo Display..........................................................................40 Caches.......................................................................................406 – HSL Color Correction HSL Controls Pane.....................................................................41 Hue...................................................................................... 41 Saturation............................................................................ 42 Vibrance............................................................................... 42 Brightness............................................................................. 42 Contrast and Contrast Center............................................... 42 RGB Gain............................................................................. 42 Gamma................................................................................ 43 Pedestal................................................................................ 43 Tonal Corrections.......................................................................43 Luma Ranges Preview........................................................... 44 Defining Tonal Ranges.......................................................... 44 Color Matching.........................................................................45 Hue Offsets Pane.......................................................................45 Using the Color Wheel.......................................................... 467 – Color Channel Correction RGB Correction..........................................................................49 Gamma Correction............................................................... 49 Pedestal Correction............................................................... 49 Gain Correction.................................................................... 50 Tonal Correction................................................................... 50 CMY Correction.........................................................................50 YCbCr Correction......................................................................51 Color Matching.........................................................................528 – Curves Correction Adjusting Curves........................................................................54 Moving a Control Point......................................................... 54 Adding a Control Point.......................................................... 54 Deleting a Control Point........................................................ 54 Black, Gray, and White Balancing...............................................55 Loading and Saving Curves........................................................56 Table of Contents v

Resetting Curves........................................................................56 Color Matching.........................................................................56 9 – Levels Corrections Levels Controls..........................................................................60 Channel Controls.......................................................................60 Adjusting Input Black and White Points......................................60 Adjusting Input Gray Point.........................................................60 Adjusting Output Black and White Points...................................61 Highlight Recovery....................................................................61 Auto Color.................................................................................61 Auto Exposure...........................................................................62 10 – Secondary Color Correction Basic Theory..............................................................................63 Selecting a Color Region............................................................64 Sampling.............................................................................. 64 Preview................................................................................. 65 Chroma Tolerance................................................................. 65 Luma Tolerance.................................................................... 66 Softness................................................................................ 66 Invert................................................................................... 66 Modifying the Selected Area......................................................66 11 – Level Limiting Luma Limiting...........................................................................69 Luma Soft Clipping............................................................... 70 Luma Hard Clipping.............................................................. 71 Chroma Limiting........................................................................71 Max Limit............................................................................. 71 Min Limit.............................................................................. 71 Limit Method........................................................................ 71 Video System........................................................................ 72 Preview Out of Limit Chroma................................................ 72 12 – Using the Colorociter Colorist’s Workstation Installing the Colorociter............................................................73 Selecting Control Pages.............................................................75 Resetting Controls.....................................................................75 Default Control Page Configurations..........................................75 Common Controls................................................................. 75 Control Page 1..................................................................... 76 Control Page 2..................................................................... 76 vi Table of Contents

Control Page 3..................................................................... 76 Control Page 4..................................................................... 76 Control Page 5..................................................................... 77 Customizing Control Pages........................................................77 Creating Custom Pages......................................................... 78 Defining Control Button Behavior.......................................... 78 Defining Control Knob Behavior............................................ 80 Defining Trackball Behavior................................................... 8113 – Using the Tangent Wave Control Surface Installing the Wave....................................................................83 Common Controls.....................................................................84 Selecting Control Tonal Ranges............................................. 85 Using the Trackballs.............................................................. 85 Resetting Controls.....................................................................85 Saving and Restoring QuickGrades............................................85 Transport Controls.....................................................................85A – Keyboard Shortcuts User Interface Navigation Shortcuts...........................................87 Settings Window Shortcuts.................................................... 87 Image Window Shortcuts...................................................... 88 Analysis Window Shortcuts.................................................... 88 Menu Shortcuts.........................................................................89B – Calibrating Video Monitors Monitor Differences...................................................................91 Why You Want a Real Video Monitor..........................................92 Calibrating the Monitor.............................................................93 Adjusting Chroma and Hue................................................... 93 Adjusting Brightness and Contrast......................................... 94C – Understanding the Waveform Monitor and Vectorscope The Waveform Monitor..............................................................95 Interpreting the Display........................................................ 96 The Vectorscope........................................................................97 Level Calibration................................................................... 99 Zooming.............................................................................. 99 The YCbCr Parade Display.........................................................99 The YRGB Parade Display.........................................................100 Table of Contents vii

D – For More Information Books on Video and Film Color Correction...............................103 Books on General Color Correction..........................................103 Books on Video Measurement..................................................104 Index viii Table of Contents

Getting Started 1Very little footage is ever seen exactly as shot. Virtually every image Why Do I Need Colorwe see—whether on video, film, or on-line—has gone through Correction?some color correction. While the name may imply that it’s used for“correcting” errors—which it sometimes is!—color correction has Why Color Finesse?moved well beyond that to encompass the use of color to set mood, What’s New in Colorgive creative “looks,” match images shot with different cameras/films, Finesse 3.0and simply to be different.Color correction is an integral part of reproducing motion pictureimages, whether printing to another piece of film or scanning tovideo. Dedicated, expensive, color correction hardware is available todo the job, and when combined with the expertise of the “colorist”controlling it, marvelous results can be obtained.The challenge has been to bring this level of control and subtlety tothe desktop environment which is easily usable by those who are notprofessional colorists.Color Finesse incorporates many of the same capabilities of thosededicated hardware solutions into a desktop product. Combined withthe 16-bit and 32-bit color support found in Adobe After Effects andother applications, Color Finesse provides a level of color control andsubtlety that is simply not available using those applications’ built-incolor correction controls.Color Finesse 3.0 builds on previous versions adding severalimportant new features: • New hue, saturation, and lightness curves allow you to freely modify colors based on their hue. • Auto Color and Auto Exposure buttons set the input Levels control to accomplish basic color temperature and color cast Getting Started 1

Compatibility With removal, and automatically set black and white points. ThesePrevious Versions buttons are also available in the plug-in’s Simplified UI. • A Vibrance adjustment has been added to the HSL Controls tab, allowing you to adjust color saturation without ending up with the “cartoon” look that can result when using higher settings of the Saturation control. • A new Highlight Recovery control has been added to the Levels tab. This brings extreme highlights (luma values > 1.0) into the range where they can be seen and adjusted. Very useful for recovering highlights in film scans. • Proper handling of pixel aspect ratio (PAR) within the Color Finesse UI. Anamorphic footage will now be displayed properly, according to the settings in the host application. • Color Finesse can now save its settings in a variety of 3-D LUT formats. Supported formats include Academy LUT, Autodesk (in Lustre, Flame, Smoke, and generic flavors), Blackmagic HDLink Pro, Pogle, Scratch, Truelight Cube, Panavision GDP, Thomson LUTher, and Cinetal. • The Vectorscope display can now be zoomed using either the scrollwheel or the contextual popup menu. This feature is available in both the Combo display and the Vectorscope display. • Contextual menus in the Combo display allow you to choose what appears within each quadrant without having to use the Color Finesse Preferences panel. • Additional color correction presets have been added. Care has been taken to make sure that projects built using Color Finesse 2.1 can be easily upgraded to use Color Finesse 3 and provide consistent color correction results. There are however, some differences between Color Finesse 3 and previous versions you should be aware of as it may affect the appearance of your project: • The Levels Output settings behave differently than in previous versions. If your project did not alter these settings then you do not need to do anything special. If you did use the Levels 2 Getting Started

Output controls, please review these settings after converting About This Manual your project to Color Finesse 3. Minimum System RequirementsThis manual covers all aspects of using Color Finesse. It does assumethat you are familiar with the general operation of your computer, as Installationwell as whatever application you’re using Color Finesse within, suchas Adobe After Effects, Apple Final Cut Pro, or Adobe Premiere Pro.In order to install and use Color Finesse on a Macintosh, you willneed a minimum of: • Intel-based, or PowerPC G4 or G5 Macintosh computer. • At least 1GB of memory; 2GB is recommended. • Mac OS X 10.5 or later, including 10.6 (Snow Leopard). • A monitor running at 1024x768 or greater resolution. • QuickTime 6.0 or later. • Adobe After Effects CS3 or later and/or Apple Final Cut Pro 5.0 or later. For version requirements for other host software, please refer to our web site for the latest information.To install and use Color Finesse on a Windows system, you will needa minimum of: • Intel Pentium III or later processor with SSE instruction set (Pentium 4 or Xeon strongly recommended), or AMD Athlon XP or later with SSE instruction set enabled in the BIOS. • At least 1GB of memory; 2GB is recommended. • Windows XP SP2 or later, Windows Vista (including Vista 64), or Windows 7 (including 64-bit flavors). • A 1024x768 (or larger) display. • QuickTime 7.0 or later. • Adobe After Effects CS3 or later or Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 or later.Color Finesse is distributed as an installation program whichwill install all components of Color Finesse, including plug-ins,applications, documentation, and other related files onto yoursystem. It is important that you use this installer program toinstall Color Finesse, rather than manually dragging files, to ensure Getting Started 3

Installing Color Finesse that everything is installed in the proper location and that theon Macintosh components are properly linked together. If you are using the version of Color Finesse LE bundled with Adobe After Effects, the software has been automatically installed for you by the Adobe installer. You will find Color Finesse in the After Effects Effects menu under the Synthetic Aperture category. The first time you apply it to a layer you will be prompted for your Color Finesse serial number. Other than entering that serial number there are no other steps needed. For others, prior to installing Color Finesse you must quit from any host application you will be installing Color Finesse into, such as Adobe After Effects or Apple Final Cut Pro. We strongly recommend that you turn off virus protection programs prior to installing Color Finesse, as they can prevent the installer from creating a working installation. Color Finesse uses different installation programs depending on the host application you will be using with Color Finesse. You must use the proper installer for your application. There are separate installers for After Effects 6.x, After Effects 7.0, Final Cut Pro, and one for all other host applications such as Autodesk Combustion or Boris Red. If you wish to install Color Finesse into multiple host applications, you will need to use the proper installer for each host and install Color Finesse multiple times, once for each host application. Once you have chosen the correct installer, double-click the installer icon with the .mpkg extension. When you see the welcome screen, click Continue to proceed with the installation. Review the “read me” information for important updates which may have occurred since this document was written. The read me always has the latest information. Then click Continue. Review the software license agreement. By clicking Agree and continuing with the installation process, you signify that you agree to the terms of the License Agreement. If you do not agree with the License, do not install the software, and return the product for a refund. 4 Getting Started

You’ll then be prompted for the location in which to install the Color Installing Color FinesseFinesse plug-in. Click Choose and navigate to the correct folder for on Windowsthe host application you are installing Color Finesse into. For AfterEffects, this will be the Plug-ins folder. For other host applications youwill need to determine the correct location for that host. For Final CutPro, there is only one valid location, so you will not be asked for thelocation and no Choose button will be shown.Once you’ve chosen the installation location, click Continue.You’ll then see a confirmation screen. Depending on whether you’veinstalled Color Finesse previously on this system, you’ll see a buttonlabeled Install or Upgrade. Click that button.You’ll now be asked to enter your name, organizational affiliation (ifany), and your serial number. If you wish to evaluate the softwareprior to purchasing it, you can install it without providing a serialnumber by clicking Trial Mode. When used in trial mode, thesoftware will work without limitation other than placing red linesacross the rendered image. You will need to purchase a serial numberand reinstall Color Finesse to remove the red lines.If you wish to fully enable the software, enter the serial number youreceived when you purchased the software and click Register. Theinstaller will now complete the installation process.You’ll then have the option of going to the Product Registrationpage on the Synthetic Aperture web site. This convenient on-lineregistration process ensures that you will be kept up-to-date onproduct revisions and updates, and that a record is kept of your ColorFinesse serial number. Should you ever misplace your serial number,we won’t be able to help you unless you complete the registration.Color Finesse uses different installation programs depending on thehost application you will be using with Color Finesse. You must usethe proper installer for your application.If you are installing Color Finesse for use with Adobe After Effectsor Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 or later, you will use one installer; if youare installing Color Finesse for use with other applications, such asDiscreet Combustion, Avid, or Boris Red, you will use a differentinstaller program. Getting Started 5

If you wish to install Color Finesse into multiple host applications, you will need to use the proper installer and run it multiple times, once for each host application. Once you have chosen the correct installer, double-click the installer icon. When you see the welcome screen, click Continue to proceed with the installation. Review the software license agreement. By clicking Yes and continuing with the installation process, you signify that you agree to the terms of the License Agreement. If you do not agree with the License, click No, do not install the software, and return the product for a refund. You will now be asked to enter your name, organizational affiliation (if any), and your serial number. If you wish to evaluate the software prior to purchasing it, you can install it without providing a serial number by clicking Next without entering a serial number. When used in trial mode, the software will work without limitation other than placing red lines across the rendered image. You will need to purchase a serial number and reinstall Color Finesse to remove the red lines. If you wish to fully enable the software, enter the serial number you received when you purchased the software and click Next. The installer will next ask you to specify where you would like the documentation, support files, uninstaller, and other miscellaneous items to be installed. You can accept the default location, or specify a directory of your choosing. Click Next to proceed with the installation. The installer will ask you to confirm that you wish to proceed with the installation. If you want to change any of your previous choices, click Back and make any changes. To proceed, click Next. The Color Finesse plug-in needs to be installed into the correct plug- in folder for the host application you are installing Color Finesse into. The installer will ask you to locate and select that folder. Once you have selected the proper folder, click Choose. The installer will now complete the installation process. When the installation is complete, click Next to exit the installation application and go to the Product Registration page on the Synthetic Aperture 6 Getting Started

web site. This convenient on-line registration process ensures that Registering Youryou will be kept up-to-date on product revisions and updates, and Softwarethat a record is kept of your Color Finesse serial number. Should youever misplace your serial number, we won’t be able to help you unless Technical Supportyou complete the registration.From the Windows Start menu, you can access this document inAdobe Acrobat (PDF) format, a copy of the Color Finesse softwarelicense, a software registration form, a read-me file with any lastminute updates, and an uninstaller.Registering your copy of Color Finesse with us is important. It allowsus to let you know about product updates and corrections. If youshould ever misplace your registration code or serial number, it is theonly way we’ll be able to help you retrieve it. And it speeds technicalsupport because we already have information about you and yourproducts.You can register your software on-line as the final step in installingthe software by directing your web browser to www.synthetic-ap.com/register or by printing out the Register Color Finesse.pdf file that isinstalled with the software and mailing or faxing it to us.Your privacy is important to us; Synthetic Aperture never shares yourregistration information with third parties, and won’t send you emailunless you indicate on your registration form that it is OK to do so.Technical support is available via electronic mail. When reportinga problem, please specify the version of the operating system,QuickTime, Color Finesse, and application program (After Effects,Final Cut Pro, etc.) you are using. Be sure to let us know whether youare using a Macintosh or Windows system.If you received Color Finesse as part of an Adobe product, pleasecontact Adobe Technical Support for assistance. Contacting SyntheticAperture directly will only result in unnecessary delays.We periodically post fixes and updates on our Web site. Beforeinvesting the time to report a problem, check there to see if theproblem is already resolved via a software update. Electronic Mail mailto:[email protected] Web Site http://www.synthetic-ap.com/ Getting Started 7

Please Tell Us What We also maintain a Knowledge Base of frequently asked questions andYou Think their answers, as well as other technical documents, in the Support section of our web site. You can access the Color Finesse on-line Knowledge Base, and check to see if updates to your version of Color Finesse are available via the Help menu within the full Color Finesse UI. We encourage you to contact us with any suggestions, comments, or questions. We are constantly working to improve our products, and most of those improvements are based directly on your feedback. 8 Getting Started

2The Art of Color CorrectionColor correction is simply the work of altering image colors and What Is Colortonalities to better match what was imagined when the image was Correction?first created. It can be as simple or as complex as needed to get the jobdone. Why Do I Need Color Correction?The term “correction” is something of a misnomer because you aren’talways correcting or fixing something, but may simply be enhancing Why Do I Need Colorthe image through color manipulation. Finesse?Most of the time you’re not aware that color correction has beenperformed. When you watch a film in a theater, you take for grantedthat there is continuity in color from scene to scene, and that a sunnybeach scene has bright saturated colors. The film may very well nothave started out that way, prior to color correction.In other cases, such as with the current spate of televisioncommercials, it’s very obvious that color correction has beenperformed, giving the images an other-worldly, distorted color palette.Subtle or obvious, this is all part of color correction.There are many times when you’ll find you need color correction,including improper white balance, mixed lighting, color castsfrom adjacent walls, correcting for the effects of aging film stocks,matching footage shot on different film stocks, at different times ofday, or simply from different angles, and matching product shots andlogos against approved color swatches.And beyond all the “correction” tasks, even footage that appearsperfect can benefit from color correction to add visual appeal, aspecific “look,” or to express your creative vision.Traditionally, color correction has been available in two forms:high-end correction systems running on dedicated hardware withproprietary software, or simple correction tools built into desktop The Art of Color Correction 9

Primary vs. Secondary compositing or editing programs. Color Finesse aims for the middleCorrection of those two extremes, bringing the capabilities of those high-end systems to inexpensive desktop software. Much color correction can be accomplished using the built-in capabilities of, say, After Effects or Final Cut Pro. However, complex correction tasks often involve the need to “stack” several correction filters, one after the other. Even when working in a 16-bit color environment, each filter needs to round its output before passing it on to the next filter. The error in that rounding accumulates, and accounts for the “harsh” or “crunchy” look of much color correction done that way. And, of course, some applications are still limited to 8-bit color manipulation, where accumulating error quickly limits the amount of correction that can be done. Color Finesse eliminates the entire issue by performing all of its color correction—which encompasses capabilities otherwise requiring multiple plug-ins—in one step, reducing the rounding to just one occurance. Color Finesse also offers secondary color correction, a capability sorely missing from many editing and compositing programs. Over the years, a great deal of jargon has grown up around color correction. One of the often heard bits is “primary” and “secondary” color correction. These terms are used to differentiate between correction of the overall image (primary correction) and correction of specific elements or areas within the image (secondary correction). They got their names because you typically would do anything considered primary correction first, followed by secondary correction tasks. For example, consider an image with a woman wearing a yellow scarf. For some reason, the whole image has a greenish-cast; none too flattering to her complexion. You would start by removing the overall green cast until things looked right. You might also adjust the black and white points to give the image more “snap.” These would be primary corrections. But now that you’ve removed the green cast, you might decide that the yellow scarf has shifted too far towards orange (because of the green you removed) and that it doesn’t look right. At this point, you could select and adjust the color only of the scarf, leaving the rest of the image alone. That would be a secondary correction. 10 The Art of Color Correction

3Color Finesse FundamentalsColor correction is a specialized operation and Color Finesse 3 Applying Colorprovides a specialized user interface for performing it, as well as Finesse to Your Clipproviding a subset of its controls directly within the host application. Adobe After EffectsIn addition to providing a more logical arrangement of controls thana long list of sliders, Color Finesse’s specialized user interface also Apple Final Cut Proprovides a variety of displays to help measure your correction effortsobjectively. Of course, what really matters is the visual result, andColor Finesse incorporates numerous ways to adjust the correctioncontrols.To begin a color correction operation, apply Color Finesse to a clipthe way you would any other video effect. The details of applyingColor Finesse in commonly used applications are covered below.In Adobe After Effects you’ll find Color Finesse in the Effect menuunder Synthetic Aperture>SA Color Finesse 3.To apply Color Finesse, select the layer you wish to apply ColorFinesse to in the timeline. From the Effects menu, select SyntheticAperture>SA Color Finesse 3.An entry for Color Finesse should now appear in the Effect Controlswindow. You should see the Color Finesse logo above a rainbow line,and four buttons below that. If you do not see all four buttons, youmay need to widen the Effect Controls window or scroll horizontally.You are now set to use either the plug-in’s simplified interface or toinvoke the full Color Finesse interface, both of which are covered indetail later in this chapter and the next.In Apple Final Cut Pro, Color Finesse will be in the Video Filterssection of the Effects menu under Synthetic Aperture>SA ColorFinesse 3. Color Finesse Fundamentals 11

Adobe Premiere Pro To apply Color Finesse to a clip, first load the clip into the ViewerOther Host Applications either by double-clicking the clip in the Timeline, or by selecting the clip and choosing View>Clip from the menu bar. Once the clip is in the Viewer, apply Color Finesse by choosing Video Filters>Synthetic Aperture>SA Color Finesse 3 from the Effects menu. To see the Color Finesse controls, click the Filters tab in the Viewer. You should see the Color Finesse logo above a rainbow line, and four buttons below that. If you do not see all four buttons, you may need to widen the Parameters column. Below the buttons you will see the Color Finesse simplified interface. You are now set to use either the plug-in’s simplified interface, or to invoke the full Color Finesse interface, both of which are covered in detail later in this chapter and the next. In Adobe Premiere Pro Color Finesse will be located in the Effects Palette under Synthetic Aperture>SA Color Finesse 3. To apply Color Finesse, click on the Effects palette in Premiere Pro and locate the Video Effects folder. Open that and locate the Synthetic Aperture folder. Open that folder and you’ll see the SA Color Finesse 3 effect. Click on the SA Color Finesse 3 effect and drag it onto the desired clip in the timeline. The effect is now applied. Locate the Effect Controls tab and you will see SA Color Finesse 3 listed under the applied Video Effects. Twirl open SA Color Finesse 3. In the revealed parameters, twirl open Parameters. You should see the Color Finesse logo above a rainbow line, and four buttons below that. If you do not see all four buttons, you may need to widen the column so that all buttons are visible. You are now set to use either the plug-in’s simplified interface or to invoke the full Color Finesse interface, both of which are covered in detail later in this chapter and the next. Other applications will have Color Finesse similarly located in the application’s video filters or effects. Apply Color Finesse as you would any other video filter plug-in. Be sure to check the Support section of our web site for specific instructions on using other host applications. 12 Color Finesse Fundamentals

The Color Finesse plug-in interface consists of four buttons with Basic Plug-Inwhich to control the basic operation of Color Finesse. The four Operationbuttons are Full Interface, Load Preset, Reset, and About. Below thosebuttons are the sliders and other controls which make up the The Color Finessesimplified interface, described below. Simplified InterfaceThe Full Interface button invokes the full Color Finesse user interface,described in detail below.The Load Preset button allows you to load previously saved settings,whether settings you’ve saved as a preset or one of the many presetssupplied with Color Finesse.The Reset button resets all Color Finesse controls back to their neutralsetting, eliminating all color correction. You should always use thisreset button to reset Color Finesse controls, rather than any resetbutton provided by the host application.The About button displays information about Color Finesse,including the version (in the lower right corner) and your softwareserial number and registration information (in the upper rightcorner).Below the four buttons described above is the simplified interface.This interface provides a subset of the controls available in thefull Color Finesse interface and can be used both to establish aninitial color correction, or to fine tune a correction you’ve alreadyestablished. Color Finesse Fundamentals 13

While only a subset of the controls available in the full interface, the simplified interface provides access to the most commonly used controls without needing to move from the host application to the Color Finesse full interface. The simplified and full interfaces are fully interoperable: you can make adjustments in either interface and the other interface will be updated. Which interface you use is entirely a personal choice. To use the simplified interface it may be necessary to twirl open the controls so that you can see them. Some host applications (After Effects, Premiere Pro) provide this capability to make it easy to get to just the control you want to use. Other host applications (Final Cut Pro) present all controls at once, which makes them easier to get to, 14 Color Finesse Fundamentals

but may require more vertical scrolling to move from one control to The Color Finesse Fullanother. InterfaceThe simplified interface gives you access to the HSL and RGB controls,Hue Offset wheels, RGB Curves, and the broadcast Limiter. Within theHSL and RGB controls, you have access to Master, Highlight, Midtone,and Shadow controls. Details of using these controls are covered inlater chapters.To adjust your color correction settings using the full interface, clickthe Full Interface button. The Color Finesse user interface will nowappear. If this is the first time you’ve clicked the Full Interface buttonin this session, you may see the Color Finesse splash screen, and theremay be a slight pause while the user interface is initialized.Analysis ImageWindow WindowSettings Color InfoWindow WindowThe Color Finesse interface is divided into four main windows: theAnalysis Window, the Image Window, the Settings Window, andthe Color Info Window. Each window has a set of tabs which can beclicked to select panes within that window, with the exception ofthe Color Info Window, which has no tabs. As you work, you’ll findyourself switching between different panes, depending on the colorcorrection operation you’re performing. Dividing the screen intodifferent windows ensures that you’ll be able to see the informationyou need as you make color correction adjustments. Color Finesse Fundamentals 15

Analysis Window The Analysis Window contains a number of displays that are intendedImage Window to allow you to view the image you are correcting in an objective fashion. Included are traditional displays you would find in the typical telecine bay, including several different styles of waveform monitors and a vectorscope, as well as more specialized displays such as histogram displays and a level curve display. Because it is often useful to see several of these displays simultaneously, Color Finesse also includes a Combo pane which incorporates four displays of your choice on one pane. Additional information on these displays can be found in “Analysis Window Displays” later in the next chapter. Information on choosing which four displays will be shown in the Combo pane can also be found there and in Chapter 5, “Preferences.” In addition to those displays, the Analysis Window is also home to the Reference Gallery pane. Additional information on the Reference Gallery can be found in “The Reference Gallery” section of the next chapter. By default, the Combo pane will be displayed in the Analysis Window when you first start the Color Finesse interface. This default can be changed in Color Finesse’s Preferences (see the Chapter 5, “Preferences”). The Image Window provides several different ways for you to look at the image you are correcting. You can look at the Result pane, which shows the result of all of the color correction settings currently enabled. You can look at the Source pane, which shows the source image prior to any corrections. The Split Source pane shows a split screen image combining both the source and result images, giving a “before and after” look at the corrections being performed. The Reference pane shows the currently selected reference image. (See “Choosing a Reference Image” in the next chapter for information on choosing a reference image.) The Split Ref pane shows a split screen combination of the reference image and the result image; ideal for comparing two scenes for a correct color match. The Luma Ranges pane shows the source image as it is broken down into shadow, midtone, and highlight regions, as defined in the Luma Ranges pane of the Settings Window. 16 Color Finesse Fundamentals

By default, the Result pane will be displayed in the Image Window Settings Windowwhen you first start the Color Finesse full interface. This defaultcan be changed in Color Finesse’s Preferences (see Chapter 5, Color Info Window“Preferences”). Navigating theThe Settings Window contains the controls you’ll use for performing Windowsthe actual color corrections. Individual panes give access to HSLcorrection, RGB, CMY, and YCbCr channel correction, curves, levels, Selecting Window Panesluma ranges, secondary color correction, and chroma and luma Activating Paneslimiting.By default, the HSL pane will be displayed in the Settings Windowwhen you first start the Color Finesse full interface. This default canbe changed in Color Finesse’s Preferences.The Color Info Window is used to sample and display colors from theimage you’re correcting. Color swatches in the Color Info Windowshow you the sampled color both before and after color correctionhas been applied. A popup menu also allows you to choose the formatfor displaying numeric color values. (For Windows users, this type ofmenu is also known as a “drop-down list.”)Also contained in the Color Info Window is the color matchingcontrol. This allows you to choose a target color and have ColorFinesse automatically adjust the active correction controls so that theinput color is matched to the target color. For more information oncolor matching, see “Color Matching” later in this chapter.During a typical color correction session, you’ll find yourself usingmany of the tools and controls provided by Color Finesse. Becomingproficient with navigating the Color Finesse interface will speed yourcorrection work.You select individual panes by clicking on the tab located on the leftside of the window. Panes may contain nested panes, whose tabs maybe clicked in turn. All settings are maintained as you click away froma pane, so you may freely click to one pane to check a setting andthen click back without altering any settings.Within the Settings Window, each pane’s tab contains a checkbox which activates the controls on that pane. This check box isautomatically selected whenever you adjust controls within the Color Finesse Fundamentals 17

Zooming and Panning pane. Clearing the check box will deactivate the pane and preventPreview Panes its controls from having any effect on the image. This provides a convenient way to disable a set of controls to perform a quick “before and after” check, or to explore alternative ways of achieving the color correction you are striving for. The image preview panes—the Result, Source, Reference, and Luma Ranges panes—can be zoomed and panned so that you can examine the image in detail, regardless of your computer monitor resolution. Use the tools in the image preview pane to zoom and pan:Split Screen Panes Pointer Pan Zoom Tool Tool To zoom an image, select the magnifier tool by clicking on the magnifier button in the lower right corner of the image preview pane. Once the tool is selected, click anywhere on the image to zoom in. To zoom out, hold down on the option key (Mac) or control key (Windows) while clicking in the image. Double-clicking the magnifier button will reset the image to its unzoomed state, where the entire image will be visible. When the image is zoomed, not all of it will be visible in the preview pane. To see other parts of the image, you can pan the image within the pane using the pan tool. Select the pan tool by clicking on the pan tool button in the lower right corner of the image preview pane. Click and hold on the image, and move the cursor; the image will move with it. When you have the image positioned where you want it, release the mouse button. If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can use it for zooming the preview pane. Position the cursor over the preview pane and move the scroll wheel to zoom in and out. If the scroll wheel also includes a button, then pressing that button and panning within the image preview pane will pan the preview image. Two of the panes in the Image Window—the Split Source and Split Ref panes—allow you to show two different images in split screen (sometimes called “split wipe”) format. The Split Source pane provides 18 Color Finesse Fundamentals

a way to compare the source (incoming) image with the result(outgoing) image. The Split Ref pane compares the currently selectedreference image with the result image.Both panes provide a split screen format which allows you to select Alternate View Modesthe location of the screen split. When either pane is selected, thedisplay will have two small white triangular markers located at theouter edge of the display. By default, these will be located at thetop and bottom of the display, at the center point of the image.You select the location of the screen split by moving these markers.One marker moves along the top and left side of the display, whilethe other moves along the right side and bottom of the display. Bymoving these markers to different positions, you can locate the screensplit wherever it is most useful in comparing the two images. Makesure you have the arrow tool selected when attempting to move thesplit markers. You can select the arrow tool by clicking on the arrowbutton in the lower right corner of the image pane.If the split is hard to see—because the difference in the images issmall—you can quickly locate the split by momentarily clicking onone of the markers without moving it. A line will be drawn across thedisplay for the time you hold down the mouse button.In addition to the normal view mode of having both an AnalysisWindow and Preview Window visible, Color Finesse also offers a view Color Finesse Fundamentals 19

Navigating in Time in mode where a single Preview Window replaces both. This mode givesPreview Panes a larger preview which allows you to see more detail during correction. To select this mode, choose Single from the View menu in the menu bar, or press command+1 (Mac) or control+1 (Windows). To see the Analysis/Preview Window combination again, choose Normal from the View menu, or press command+2 (Mac) or control+2 (Windows). When you are viewing moving footage (as opposed to still images) in the Result, Source, Reference, and Luma Ranges panes you move through the frames of the clip as well as control playback. The Preview Panes have VTR-style controls located in the lower left portion of the window. Go to Stop Step Rapid Current Frame Start Forward Preview Timecode Step Play Go to Backward EndRealtime Playback Via Use these controls to step through the clip and to play the footage.Rapid Preview You can easily scrub through the clip by using the pointer tool (see “Zooming and Panning Preview Panes” earlier in this chapter for the location of this tool). Click-and-drag on the image pane to scrub back and forth through the frames. You can play the clip (with or without correction, depending on which Preview Pane you are viewing) by clicking the Play button in the VTR controls. But, depending on your system speed, the dimensions of the image, and the speed of your video card, playback may not be realtime. For realtime playback, use the Rapid Preview button instead of the Play button. Rapid Preview prepares the corrected preview before displaying it, allowing realtime playback on systems which can’t otherwise support it. The Rapid Preview button is the rightmost button in the VTR controls. Position the clip at the frame where you wish the preview 20 Color Finesse Fundamentals

to begin. Click Rapid Preview once and Color Finesse will begin Resetting Controlspreparing the frames. You can either wait for it to reach the end of theclip, or click the Play button to begin playback. Undo/RedoPlayback will loop back to the beginning when it reaches the end Resetting All Controlsof the Preview. The VTR controls are active so you can pause, stop Resetting a Pane’sand restart playback as you wish. When you are done with viewing Controlsthe Preview, click Rapid Preview again to return to normal playback Resetting a Singlemode. Control Using the Scroll WheelIf you have an External Preview Monitor or Secondary PreviewMonitor active, Rapid Previews will be displayed on that monitor, notthe main monitor.To ensure proper performance, make sure that the Rapid PreviewCache setting in the Color Finesse preferences is set to an adequatelyfast disk.Color correction often involves a great deal of experimentation, withmany different combinations of control settings tried before a finalconfiguration is chosen. To make that easier, Color Finesse offers anumber of ways to reset controls to standard settings.All control changes can be undone using the undo key (command + Zfor Macintosh; control + Z for Windows) and redone using the redokey (shift + command + Z for Macintosh; shift + control + Z forWindows). Color Finesse has multiple levels of undo/redo, thenumber of which can be specified in the Color Finesse preferences. Bydefault, there are 20 levels of undo/redo.To reset all controls to their default setting, click the Reset All button,located at the bottom of the Color Finesse full interface.Each settings pane has a Reset button which will reset just that pane’scontrols to their default settings. The controls on all other panes areleft unaffected.You can reset just a single slider control to its default value by holdingdown the option key (Mac) or control key (Windows) while clickingon the text display of the control’s value.If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can use the wheel for makingsmall adjustments to the slider controls with more precision thansimply dragging the slider handle. Color Finesse Fundamentals 21

Saving and Restoring Position the cursor over the textual display of the slider value. As youSettings move the scroll wheel, the value of the slider will change in small increments. Using QuickGrades You can save and restore all of the Color Finesse settings using the Using ASC CDLs Save and Load buttons. This is particularly handy after you’ve developed settings for a particular “look” or for correcting a particularSettings Window color problem. You can also save and load color settings from theOptions Settings menu. The QuickGrade feature of Color Finesse provides a convenient way to store multiple color correction settings which can be recalled with a single keystroke. This is ideal for quickly toggling between settings when comparing alternative correction choices, or for storing commonly used settings for quick recall. QuickGrades are stored and recalled using the function keys F1-F8. The Colorociter Colorist’s Workstation can also be configured so that buttons are dedicated to the QuickGrade function. To store the current color corrections as a QuickGrade, choose one of the function keys F1-F8. While holding down the shift key, press the function key. The current settings will be stored in that key. To recall the stored QuickGrade, press the function key you originally stored the settings in. The settings will be recalled and all controls updated. If you press a function key which does not have a QuickGrade stored in it, you will hear the system alert sound. QuickGrades are saved between projects You can also save and load settings as ASC CDL format files. This is an XML-based file format developed and promoted by the American Society of Cinematographers Technical Committee as a “Color Decision List” for interchanging color correction data between different color correction systems. It stores only a small subset of Color Finesse’s settings—basically just the RGB Master gamma, gain, and pedestal controls—but the format is well specified so that results in one color corrector can be duplicated in another corrector which supports the ASC CDL format. Color Finesse normally updates all images as you manipulate controls, providing you with immediate feedback of your adjustments. You can 22 Color Finesse Fundamentals

temporarily disable this updating by holding down the option key as Entering Numeric Valuesyou move the control. You can also turn off the updates by engagingthe caps-lock key. To resume updates, release the caps-lock key. Color Info Window ToolsIn addition to using the sliders and other controls to manipulate thecorrection settings, you can also enter numeric values. This issometimes advantageous when you want to change a value withgreater precision than is afforded by a slider, or when you want toenter a value that is outside the range of the slider.To enter a numeric value, click on the underlined numeric valuedisplayed to the right of the control. The value will change to editabletext. Enter the value you want to assign to the control and pressreturn to close the editing, or press tab to close the editing and moveto the next field.The Color Info Window is divided into two halves: the upper half isused for sampling colors from images and displaying the effect yourcorrection settings will have on the sampled color. The lower half isused for color matching, which is discussed in detail in “ColorMatching,” below.The color sampler is always available, but the color matcher is onlyavailable when the Settings Window has a pane selected whichprovides color matching; otherwise the color matching controls aredisabled and dimmed. Color Finesse Fundamentals 23

Color Sampler The color sampler lets you sample colors from your images so you canSampling Image Colors better analyze the effects of the color correction. The Color Info Window displays the color you have sampled in the sample color swatch, both as a colored background and as the color’s numeric value. Just to the right of it is the result color swatch which displays the sampled color after the current color correction settings have been applied. You can use this to help you determine the type of correction needed, and to judge how successful your corrections are. For example, if you have an area of shadowed snow that doesn’t look “right,” use the color sampler to sample an area of the snow. By looking at the numeric representation of that snow color, you can see that there is too much blue. As you adjust the colors to reduce the blue, you can watch the numbers in the result color swatch to see when you have achieved a neutral color, as represented by a color where the red, green, and blue values are all roughly equal. To sample a color, click on the Sampler eyedropper button. Move the cursor to the Image pane and the cursor will become an eyedropper. Click and hold down on the mouse button. As you move the cursor over the image, you’ll see that the sample color swatch in the Color Info Window is continually updated. Likewise, the result color swatch is also updated, reflecting what the sampled color will appear like after the current correction settings are applied to it. When you locate the color you wish to sample, release the mouse button. Normally, the eyedropper samples the color from a single pixel. In image areas with a great deal of image detail, it can sometimes be hard to locate a single pixel which is representative of the image area’s color. If you press and hold down the shift key while selecting a color, Color Finesse will average the color from a three-by-three pixel sample. Hold down the option key (Mac) or control key (Windows) while selecting a color and get a five-by-five pixel sample. If you hold down shift + option (Mac) or shift + control (Windows), Color Finesse will average the color from a nine-by-nine pixel area. There are times when you want to sample a specific color, based on its numeric color values. To do so, hold down the option key when initially clicking the eyedropper button. Instead of letting you pick a 24 Color Finesse Fundamentals

sample from the image, this will instead call up the standard system Color Display Formatcolor picker, letting you choose a specific color. Color MatchingThe display format popup menu allows you to select the numeric Image Preview LUTsformat used to display sampled colors. You have a choice of RGB in8-, 10-, and 16-bit integer formats, floating point, percentage, and hex(web) formats. You can also display the color as a numeric HSL value.All of these formats report the same information, but you can choosethe format you are most comfortable with, or that matches othercolor specifications you are working with.One of the ways to correct colors is to use Color Finesse’s colormatching functions. This feature, part of most of the basic colorcorrection panes, allows you to choose a source and target color, andto have Color Finesse automatically set the controls so that the sourcecolor is corrected to match the target color. The exact way in whichthe match is achieved, and how it will affect other colors in theimage, depends on the Settings Window pane in which you applycolor matching. More details on this are discussed in the followingchapters.To perform color matching, first choose a source color by usingthe Sampler eyedropper, as discussed above. Then choose a targetcolor using the Target eyedropper. Now choose a matching methodfrom the Match Method popup menu. The contents of this menuwill depend on the currently selected Settings Window pane. (Seethe detailed discussion on each pane in the following chapters fordetails.) Click the Match Color button and the control settings will beadjusted to achieve the color match.Color Finesse provides for the use of LUTs (lookup tables) with all ofthe previews it creates. Individual LUTs can be assigned to the previewimage, external preview monitor, and secondary preview monitorusing the View menu in the menu bar.LUTs are typically used to calibrate display monitors so that whatyou see on that monitor matches your final output. For example, ifyour project is destined for film output, a LUT can be used to alter theappearance of your external video monitor such that it matches thelook of the final film out. Color Finesse Fundamentals 25

Loading a Preview LUT Color Finesse supports numerous formats for LUT files, includingCreating a Preview LUT Color Finesse’s own Preview LUT (.lut) format, Photoshop arbitrary map (.amp) files, Quantel iQ 1-D LUT (.txt) files, and Discreet 1-D LUTCreating 3-D LUTs (.lut) files. To load a 1-D LUT file for previewing, use the View menu in the menu bar and choose the preview device for which you wish to load a LUT. Color Finesse includes a number of built-in preview LUTs, or to load a LUT from a file, choose Other. Choose the format of the LUT file you wish to load from the popup menu and select the LUT file. Click Load and the LUT will immediately be loaded. To return to a neutral LUT, choose None for the LUT in the preview device’s LUT selection. You can create LUTs in Photoshop and many other image processing and compositing applications—taking advantage of Color Finesse’s support for different LUT formats—or you can create the LUT directly in Color Finesse. To create a LUT using Color Finesse, load a suitable sample image— such as a test chart—and display it on the preview device you wish to build a LUT for. Adjust the color correction controls so that the image on the preview device looks the way you want it to. Then use File>Export>Color Finesse Preview LUT to save the adjustments as a LUT file. That LUT file can then be loaded as described in the previous section. Because preview LUTs are 1-D LUTs, color adjustments you make when creating the LUT are restricted to using the RGB, CMY, YCbCr, Levels, and Curves controls. If you make adjustments with other controls, they will not be stored correctly in the preview LUT and the results of that LUT will be unpredictable. In addition to 1-D preview LUTs, Color Finesse can also create 3-D LUTs in a variety of formats, including Academy LUT, Autodesk (in Lustre, Flame, Smoke, and generic flavors), Blackmagic HDLink Pro, Pogle, Scratch, Truelight Cube, Panavision GDP, Thomson LUTher, 26 Color Finesse Fundamentals

and Cinetal formats. Use the File>Export command to choose the Processing Orderformat of LUT to save.Color Finesse can export 3-D LUTs, but is not able to import them.When Color Finesse performs its image processing, it performs theoperations in a specific order. That order is, roughly speaking, downthe list of Settings Windows panes, from top to bottom. By knowingthe processing order, you can better understand the correction results,and can better take advantage of the ability to use multiplecorrections to the same image.The exact order is: 1. Levels pane, input section, including highlight recovery. 2. HSL controls, master, highlights, midtones, shadows. 3. Hue Offsets. 4. RGB controls, master, highlights, midtones, shadows. 5. CMY controls, master, highlights, midtones, shadows. 6. YCbCr controls, master, highlights, midtones, shadows. 7. Curves pane, starting with RGB then HSL. 8. Levels pane, output section. 9. Secondary correction. 10. Limiter. Color Finesse Fundamentals 27

28 Color Finesse Fundamentals

The Reference Gallery and4Analysis WindowThe Reference Gallery pane (located in the Analysis Window) The Reference Gallerycontains a list of images that can be used as references when judgingcolor accuracy or when color timing footage, as well as a list of presetsthat can be used for color correction. The reference images can bedisplayed in either the Analysis or Image windows, and can bedisplayed as a split screen with the correction result image.When you first open the Color Finesse full interface from within AfterEffects, the Reference Gallery will contain all the still image footageitems that are included in your After Effects project, as well as anyimages you’ve previously explicitly added to the Reference Gallery.When using Color Finesse from other applications (such as Final CutPro or Premiere Pro), no footage items will be imported automatically,due to lack of support for that function in those applications. Instead,you will see whatever images you’ve added previously. The Reference Gallery and Analysis Window 29

Adding Images The Gallery will also contain two folders containing presets: one for System presets that are supplied with Color Finesse, and one for UserRemoving Images presets that you’ve created and saved.Choosing a ReferenceImage To add additional images to the Reference Gallery, click the New Document button in the lower left corner of the Reference GalleryUsing Folders in the pane. Choose one or more images from the displayed list and clickGallery Import. The images will be loaded into the Gallery. The list of images you create in the Reference Gallery is stored across projects so that it is available whenever you use Color Finesse. This is handy when doing color matching across several projects. You can also add the currently displayed image to the Reference Gallery by choosing Save Reference Image from the Clip menu. You will be asked for a name to use for the image file on disk; the image will be saved under that name and automatically added to the Reference Gallery. To remove an image from the Reference Gallery, select the image within the list and click the Delete button in the lower left corner of the Gallery pane. This only removes the image from the Reference Gallery, and does not actually delete the image file from the disk. To select one of the images in the Reference Gallery as the current reference image, you can either double-click on the Gallery entry you wish to choose, or select the item (by clicking on it) and then clicking the Reference button in the lower left corner of the Reference Gallery pane. Once an image is selected as the current reference image, the Reference Image pane will automatically be selected in the Analysis Window. The image will also be available in the Image Window for display as a complete image, or as a split screen display with the corrected result image. You can organize the Reference Gallery as you see fit using folders within the Gallery. To add a new folder to the Gallery, click the New Folder button in the lower left corner of the Reference Gallery pane. The name field of the new folder will be automatically selected. Enter the name of the folder and press return. 30 The Reference Gallery and Analysis Window

To move reference images into or out of a folder, click the image item Using Saved Settingsto select it and then drag the image item to its new location. Presets in the GalleryTo delete a folder from the Gallery, click the folder to select it, and Customizing the Gallerythen click the Delete button in the lower left corner of the Gallerypane. Analysis Window DisplaysFolders are used to organize items in the Reference Gallery and do notcorrespond to folders on disk.The Reference Gallery is also used to store saved color correctionsettings. There is one folder, Settings Presets (System), which is alwayspresent and contains presets that are supplied with Color Finesse.There is another folder, Settings Presets (User), which contains anypresets you have saved.To save the current color correction settings as a preset in the Gallery,you can select Save User Preset from the Settings menu or you canclick the Save User Preset button in the lower left corner of theGallery pane. You’ll be asked for a name for the preset. Choose aname and click OK. The current settings will be saved as a preset inthe Settings Presets (User) folder.To use a preset, locate the preset you want to use within the Gallery.Double click on the preset item and the settings will be loaded fromthe preset to the correction controls.The Reference Gallery pane can be customized to fit your specificpreferences. You can change the width of the columns by clicking anddragging on the column separators. You can change the order of thecolumns by clicking and dragging on the column titles.The comment field is for your use in annotating the list entries.Double-clicking on the comment field will select it for text editing.Enter whatever text you find useful.Clicking a column title will sort the reference image list based on thatcolumn. Clicking on the sort order button above the vertical scrollbar will toggle between ascending and descending sort order.The Analysis Window provides a number of displays that provideobjective measurements of the image you are correcting. While theway the corrected image looks is the final criteria, it’s also importantto be able to measure the image so that you can ensure proper levels, The Reference Gallery and Analysis Window 31

Waveform Monitor compare colors, ensure that colors are neutral, and analyze the image to better plan your correction strategy. The displays in the Analysis Window reflect whatever pane is currently selected in the Image Window: if you have the Result pane selected in the Image Window, the waveform monitor’s display will represent the corrected result image. If you select the Source pane, the waveform monitor will represent the unmodified source image. When a split screen pane is selected in the Image Window, the Analysis Window display will be based on the corrected result image. The Analysis Window offers a number of waveform monitor panes, all based on different styles of traditional waveform monitors. • The Luma WFM displays just the luma content of the selected image. Choose the display format you are most familiar or comfortable with. • The YC WFM display overlays that with the chroma display, letting you see the minimum and maximum extent of the chroma information, as it would be encoded in a composite video signal. • The RGB WFM display shows the levels of the separate red, green, and blue color channels, arranged left to right in a “parade” format. An option for GBR ordering is also available. 32 The Reference Gallery and Analysis Window

• The YCbCr shows the Y (luma) and Cb and Cr color Vectorscope component channels, also arranged left to right in a “parade” format. • The YRGB format adds the luma level to the RGB parade. And the Overlay WFM shows the three primary color channels (red, green, and blue) overlaid on top of each other so you can see the overall effect of the video signal.For the waveform monitor displays to be accurate, you must configureColor Finesse’s preferences to reflect your video system and thecoding used by the image you are correcting.Additional information on using the waveform monitor can be foundin Appendix C.The Vectorscope pane provides a traditional way of examining colorlevels and saturation.For the vectorscope display to be accurate, you must configure ColorFinesse’s preferences to reflect your video system, the coding usedby the image you are correcting, and whether you wish to have thevectorscope calibrated for 75% or 100% color bars. See “WFM/VSPreferences” in the next chapter for additional details.You can zoom the vectorscope display using your mouse’s scrollwheel,or by right-clicking on the vectorscope display and choosing The Reference Gallery and Analysis Window 33

Histogram the zoom factor from the popup menu. You can also select the vectorscope calibration (75% or 100%) using the popup menu. Additional information on using the vectorscope can be found in Appendix C. The Histogram pane shows the distribution of pixel values over the entire image, as separate luma (the white display), red, green, and blue histograms.In addition to the graphical representation, Color Finesse displays numerical statistics for each channel, including the minimum and maximum values seen, the mean value, and the peak value (the value with the most samples). The mean is also shown on the graphical histogram as a small triangle under the histogram display.Level Curves The Level Curves pane provides an easy-to-understand way to see how the red, green, and blue image channels are being manipulated by your image correction settings. 34 The Reference Gallery and Analysis Window

The display contains four colored lines representing the luma (the Combo Displaywhite line), red, green, and blue channels. The horizontal axisrepresents the input pixel value on a scale of 0.0 to 1.0. The verticalaxis represents the output pixel value, also on a scale of 0.0 to 1.0.The Combo Display pane combines your choice of four displays intoone display. While the displays are smaller, it’s often convenient to beable to see all of that information without needing to switch betweendifferent panes.You can select which display appears in each quadrant either inthe Preferences’ Combo tab, or by right-clicking in the quadrantand choosing the desired display. When clicking in the vectorscope The Reference Gallery and Analysis Window 35

display within the Combo Display you can also select vectorscope zoom and calibration options. Note that in the Combo Display the histogram numerical statistics may not be displayed if doing so would make the graphical display impractically small. Whether or not this occurs depends on the resolution of your computer monitor. Color Finesse optimizes its display sizes to get as much information as possible onto the monitor, but may sacrifice the numerical information in the Combo Display to do so. The numerical information is always available in the Histogram pane. 36 The Reference Gallery and Analysis Window

Preferences 5Color Finesse allows you to alter a number of the ways in which itoperates via its preferences. You open the Preferences window byselecting Preferences from Color Finesse’s Edit menu or by pressingCommand + comma (Macintosh). The Preferences window containsseveral panes which you can select by clicking on the pane’s tab.Within the General references pane you can select the number of General Preferencesundo/redo levels available. Increasing the number of levels alsoincreases the amount of memory required by Color Finesse, butprovides a greater level of protection when experimenting withsettings. The default 20 levels is sufficient for most purposes.The Display Tool Tips option determines if Tool Tips are displayedwhen the cursor hesitates over a control within the Color Finesse fullinterface. The default is to have Tool Tips enabled. Preferences 37

Video System Settings The Keep UI Running option determines if the Color Finesse interface remains active after you return to the host application (After Effects, Final Cut Pro, etc.). Keeping the full interface active reduces the time it takes to call up the UI, but when the UI is active it continues to occupy memory. The UI stops running if it isn’t used for 10 minutes. The default is to keep the UI active. If you are using Color Finesse on a multiple processor system, you’ll have the option of disabling the use of multiple processors. Because it improves performance, you’ll normally want to keep multiple processors enabled, which is the default setting. Changing this setting will not take effect until the next time you start the Color Finesse user interface. When using Color Finesse in broadcast situations, you will most likely want the Limiter to always be on. In film applications, you probably want it off. You can select whether the Limiter defaults to being on or off via a checkbox. Note that this checkbox determines the default setting in both the Color Finesse full interface, and in the plug-in simplified interface. You can also select the default panes which are displayed when you first invoke the Color Finesse full interface. Choose the panes you use most frequently. You can adjust the overall brightness and saturation of the Color Finesse full interface using the UI Brightness and UI Saturation sliders. This lets you tailor the interface to your specific preferences and viewing environment. To return these settings to their factory default settings, click the Default button. The Video System pane allows you to specify the coding specifics of the images you are color correcting. These settings must match the coding of the images for the waveform monitor, vectorscope, and limiter to be accurate. Choose the video system you are correcting for: NTSC, PAL, digital HD (709), or analog HD (240M). This tells Color Finesse the acceptable limits for the limiting operation, as well as selecting the proper waveform monitor calibration. Note that the analog HD (240M) system is obsolete and will rarely be used. 38 Preferences

Also choose the image coding. In most cases when working with After WFM/VS PreferencesEffects, you’ll want to use the 0-255/0-1023 setting. Use this setting Previewsif 0 represents black and full scale represents white, whether you aredealing with 8- or 16-bit images. Choose 16-235/64-940 if you areusing images with headroom built into the encoding. Note that thissetting does not affect the bit depth of the calculations or display,it simply tells Color Finesse what digital values represent black andwhite.Select whether your images assume that the black level includes a 7.5IRE setup. This setting affects the waveform monitor calibration andthe limiter.The WFM/VS pane provides ways to customize the waveform monitorand vectorscope displays. Choose whether the waveform monitoruses a traditional green display, or uses the image’s colors. Selectwhether you want the waveform monitor calibrated in percentage(IRE), or in mV. Also choose whether you want the vectorscopecalibrated for 75% or 100% color bars. The default is green waveformdisplay using percentage (IRE) units, with the vectorscope calibratedfor 75% bars.Color Finesse 3 offers many previewing options beyond the displayon the main monitor.If you have an appropriate external video device, you can use itto display preview images on a broadcast monitor. Color Finessesupports a number of video output devices, such as the AJA Kona andBlackmagic DeckLink devices, as well as FireWire/DV devices on theMacintosh. It supports Blackmagic DeckLink and other devices underWindows. (For a current list of which previewing options are availableon your computer platform, see the Support section of our web site.)To select a video preview device, select it from the External PreviewDevice popup. This popup will list all preview options available onyour system. Once a device has been selected, choose the desiredmode from the External Preview Mode popup.If you are color correcting footage that has different dimensions thanyour preview monitor, you may want to select appropriate scaling andaspect ratio conversion from the popup menus. Preferences 39

Control Surface Note that some host applications (notably Apple Final Cut Pro) do not release their hold on the video preview hardware before switching toCombo Display the Color Finesse user interface. In such cases it will be necessary forCaches you to manually release the hardware before invoking Color Finesse. This switching is handled automatically in Adobe After Effects. If you have more than one computer monitor connected to your system, Color Finesse allows you to use one of those extra monitors as a secondary preview monitor, which will display a full-size preview image. You can select the computer monitor to use as your secondary preview monitor using the Secondary Computer Monitor Preview popup menu. Select None if you do not wish to use the feature. If you are working with the optional control surface, use this tab to define the type and connection method of the control surface. If you are working with a Colorociter CS-1 by itself, choose Standalone Colorociter in the popup. If you are using a Colorociter slaved to another device, such as a VTR jog-shuttle control, choose Slave Colorociter. If the Colorociter and computer lose their connection­—such as when the USB connection is accidentally disconnected—you can click Reset Control Surface to re-establish the connection and get the control surface and the computer back in sync. To assign custom actions to the controls on the control surface, click Define Actions. You can select which displays are shown in the Combo Display by selecting a display for each quadrant. Choose the display and its location using the popup menus. Color Finesse makes use of a disk cache during Rapid Preview operations. Select the location of that disk cache using the Caches preferences tab. For best Rapid Preview operation, the cache should be located on a fast disk—a disk array if available­—with a large amount of free disk space. The default cache location is in your temporary folder on the boot disk drive. 40 Preferences

HSL Color Correction 6Using HSL (Hue-Saturation-Lightness) controls is a convenient way to HSL Controls Paneperform many common color correction tasks since they manipulatethe image in a way that feels “intuitive” compared to some othercontrols.When you first click on the HSL tab, you’ll see that there are twodifferent types of HSL correction available: a Controls pane and a HueOffsets pane. The Controls pane contains a series of sliders you use toadjust things like hue, saturation, brightness, and contrast. The HueOffsets pane contains color wheels that allow you to “drag” the imagecolors towards a hue. Both the Controls and Hue Offsets panes allowyou to affect the entire image, or just portions of the image based onwhether they are highlights, midtones, or shadows.When you’ve selected the HSL Controls pane, you’ll see a variety ofslider controls and tabs that allow you select whether the controlsaffect the entire image (Master), or just the highlights, midtones, orshadows.The Hue controls change the image’s hue without modifying its Huesaturation or lightness. Watch the vectorscope display in the AnalysisWindow and you’ll see the display rotating as you move the Huecontrol, rotating the colors around the color wheel. HSL Color Correction 41

Saturation This control adjusts the saturation or “strength” of the colors. TheVibrance default value is 100.0 which doesn’t alter the saturation. When set toBrightness 0 all color is removed.Contrast and ContrastCenter Color Finesse allows you to set negative values with the Saturation control by manually entering them as textual values, which has theRGB Gain effect of both adjusting the saturation and also reversing the colors into a negative appearance. The Vibrance control also adjusts the saturation or “strength” of colors, but limits the range of the adjusted colors to avoid the cartoon-like appearance that colors can acquire when using large values of the Saturation control. This allows you to increase the “vibrance” of the colors in your image while still maintaining a natural appearance. The Brightness control adjusts an image’s “brightness” by division so that darker pixels are affected more than lighter pixels. If you adjust this control and watch the Level Curves in the Analysis Window, you’ll see that white pixels are not affected, while darker pixels are progressively more affected. This effectively raises the black point. The Contrast control alters the way the image information is spread between pure white and pure black, thus altering the image contrast. Color Finesse uses a contrast curve, rather than the simple linear contrast adjustment used by some other color correction tools. This gives a more “natural” look to the adjustments, but does mean that it may make it behave differently than you are accustomed to. When you adjust the Contrast control with the Contrast Center control at its middle (default) position, image values are affected based on how far they are away from the center point between black and white. By adjusting the Contrast Center control, you can change how the image values are altered by shifting the adjustment towards white (positive control values) or towards black (negative control values). RGB Gain adjusts an image’s “brightness” by multiplication so that lighter pixels are affected more than darker pixels. If you adjust this control and watch the Level Curves in the Analysis Window, you’ll see that black pixels are not affected, while lighter pixels are progressively more affected. This effectively raises the white point. 42 HSL Color Correction